(B. 1949, American) James Leonard has emerged as one of California’s leading abstract expressionist painters. Leonard’s emotionally charged landscapes often portray backdrops for figures dramatically suspended. Leonard grew up in Nashville, Tennessee and has always been drawn to the early expressionists of the 1930’s and 40’s. The German painter Gerhard Richer has had an influence on his style, approach, and directness. Working with acrylics on canvas, Leonard uses bold horizontal and vertical strokes and strong color to the viewer’s emotions. "Art has always been the focus of my life," he says. Just as our lives unfold in unique and beautiful ways, so do my paintings have their own unique and individual expression. Most artists work from the outside in, the subject is outside of themselves. I work from the inside out, says Leonard. Most artists work with brushes; Leonard works with an extended palette knife. "I’m pulling paint, layering one layer at a time, which creates a sense of history in the painting. It’s like looking at a fence post that’s been repainted over a period of time. You can see the different colors and layers." "Great art is such a surprise. It’s so enchanting, so delightfully unexpected and unpredictable. In order to create that, you have to drop the concept of imposing what you think it should be, and allow the work to evolve in its own way. That requires all the skills of listening, allowing, learning to quiet that part of our mind that is constantly telling us how things should be. For me, that’s the essence of creativity." - James Leonard "Leonard’s compositions are entirely non-representational and move the viewer’s eye vertically or horizontally across the space. This basic movement is complicated by layers of dropped, speckled and fragmented colors that infuse not only a rich language of color, but also a visual history left to be discovered by the eye as it moves across the surface. Leonard’s inventive layering process results in heavy impasto, or textured, surfaces with a glossy, wet shine, making them particularly beautiful when seen in person." - Urban Tulsa Weekly, 2010 "There can be thirty or forty layers in one painting, creating the feeling of a ‘waterfall.’ As a final touch, Leonard employs a technique he calls ‘sgrafito’ - scraping lines through the upper layers, so the colors of the ground layers show through. It’s a technique that demands courage and conviction; one misstep can destroy an entire painting." -Dallas Faulkner EDUCATION
1976 Bachelor Of Arts, Fresno State University, Fresno, CA SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2013 Avran Art Laguna Beach, CA
2012 Joseph Gierek, Tulsa, OK
2012 Gallery Bergell, Larkspur, CA
2012 Thornwood Art Gallery Houston, TX
2011 Twenty-Twenty One Gallery Atlanta, GA
2011 Chloe Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2010 Douglas Flanders Art, Minneapolis, MN
2010 Gallery Bergelli, Larkspur, CA
2010 Rue 32 Gallery, Denver, CO
2009 Douglas Flanders Art, Minneapolis, MN
2009 Gallery Bergelli, Larkspur, CA
2009 Gallery Mensing, Berlin, Germany
2009 Gallery Mensing, Berlin, Germany
2008 Nussbaumer Fine Arts, Santa Fe, NM
2007 Soren Christenson, New Orleans, LA
2007 Studio 7 Fine Arts, Pleasanton, CA
2006 Marion Meyers, Laguna Beach, CA
2005 Marion Meyers
2005 Joseph Gierek, Tulsa, OK
2005 Dean Day, Houston, TX
2004 Gallery Blue, Kansas City, MO
2004 Dean Day, Houston, TX
2003 Melanie Cooper, Chicago, IL
2002 R. Duane Reed Gallery, St. Louis, MO
2002 Gallery Bergelli, Larkspur CA
2002 Wyndy Morehead, New Orleans, LA
2002 Marion Meyers, Laguna Beach, CA
2001 Gallery Bergelli, Larkspur, CA
2001 Wyndy Morehead, New Orleans, LA
2000 Gallery 224, Laguna Beach, CA
2000 Fredrick Clement Montclair, NJ
1999 Blue Mountain Gallery, New York
1998 Delphine Gallery, Santa Barbara, CA
1997 Charles Hespe, San Francisco, CA
1997 Delphine Gallery, Santa Barbara, CA
1997 Lisa Steinmetz Gallery, St. Louis, MO
1996 Carthew-Thompson, Beverly Hills, CA
1996 Lya Art Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
1996 Delphine Gallery, Santa Barbara, CA
1995 Charles Hespe, San Francisco, CA
1995 Lya Art Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
1994 Delphine Gallery, Santa Barbara, CA
1993 Valley Art Gallery, Walnut Creek, CA GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2013 Chloe Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2012 Gallery Bergelli, Larkspur, CA
2012 New Acquisitons, Flanders Minneapolis, MN
2012 Chloe Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2011 Hennes Art Co, Minneapolis, MN
2011 Joseph Gierek, Tulsa, OK
2011 Chloe Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2010 Soren Christenson New Orleans, LA
2010 Chloe Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2009 Edge Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
2009 Lakes’ Sothebys, Edina, MN
2007 Mensing Gallery, Frankfurt, Germany
2005 Melanie Cooper, Chicago, IL
2004 In Good Company, Boston, MA
2002 Malton Gallery, Cincinnati, OH
2001 Poncho Invitational Fine Art, Seattle, WA
2001 Sculpture Showcase, New Hope, PA
2000 Bergelli Gallery, Larkspur, CA
1999 Larry King Cardiac Foundation, Auction, Beverly Hills, CA
1999 The Artist's Magazine, The Best Art of Art Competition, Experimental Category, Honorable Mention
1999 World View, Ethnic Diversity & New Horizons for the Millennium, Danville, CA
1998 New York International Art, NYC
1997 Art Junction, Nice, France
1997 New York International Art
1996 Los Angeles International Art
1996 Macromedia, San Francisco, CA
1995 New York International Art
1993 A-Gallery, Palm Desert, CA
1992 Valley Art Gallery, West Covina, CA MUSEUM AND JURIED EXHIBITIONS
2013 San Diego Contemporary Art Fair San Diego, CA
2012 Art Basel Miami, Miami, FL
2012 International Exhibition Bold Expressions, Carmichael, CA
2010 Andrews Art Museum, Exhibition, Andrews, NC
2006 All-Abstract Show, Valley Art Gallery Second Place Award
2005 Alameda Art Center, Contemporary Abstracts, Juror: Kenneth Baker, San Francisco Chronicle Art Critic
2004 San Diego Museum of the Living Artist, 47th Annual International Juried Award Exhibition, Award Of Excellence, CA
2004 Albany Museum & Institute of History and Art, Albany, NY
2002 Bellevue Art Museum, Bellevue, WA
2001 Palm Springs Desert Museum, 32nd Annual National Juried Exhibition, Artists’ Council Award, CA
2000 San Diego Museum of Art, All-California Exhibition, Silver Award
1999 The Artist's Magazine, The Best of Art Competition, Experimental Category COLLECTIONS
3I Corporation, Waltham, MA
Abry Partners, Boston, MA
Acadian Asset Management Inc., Boston, MA
Adobe Systems, San Francisco, CA
Alumax Corp. Headquarters, Atlanta, GA
Andrew Spangler, Spangler Law P.C. Longview, TX
Appia Developments, Vancouver, Canada
Arthur Anderson, San Francisco, CA
Ascent Art Ventures LLC., Dallas, TX
Axis, Hamilton, Bermuda
Biogen Inc., Cambridge, MA
Boston Stock Exchange, Boston, MA
Brookfield Power, Marlborough, MA
Brookstone Inc., Amherst, NH
Burns & Levinson, Boston, MA
CB Richard Ellis, Walnut Creek, CA
Cetrulo & Capone, Boston, MA
Color Kenitics, Boston, MA
College Park Music Dept, Pleasant Hill, CA
Computer Associates International
Cornnuts Toasted Corn, Oakland, CA
DDJ Capitol, Boston, MA
Deliotte Consulting Boston, MA
Driscoll Agency, Boston, MA
Dwyer & Collora, Boston, MA
Edinboro University, Edinboro, PA
Edwards & Angell, Boston, MA
Ellen O. Tausher, Congresswoman, 10th District
Epstein Becker & Green, Boston, MA
Factory Motor Parts, St. Paul, MN
Fairmont Waterfront Hotel, Vancouver Canada
Fenway Ventures LLC., Boston, MA
Filmtwist.Com San Francisco, CA
Flanders, Douglas And Associates, Minneapolis, MN
Florida Credit Union, Tallahassee, FL
FM Global, Waltham, MA
FSP Phoenix Tower Ltd., Houston, TX
Goodwin, Procter & Hoar, Boston, MA
Hadco, Canton, MA
Hale & Dorr Law Offices, Boston, MA
Harvard Vangard Medical Ass. Boston, MA.
Hyatt Regency, Vancouver, Canada
Hinkie & Foran, Tallahassee, FL
Hoffman Companies, Boston, MA.
Inn At The Opera Plaza, San Francisco, CA
Interface Consulting Int., Houston, TX
Integrated Financial Partners Boston, MA.
LOI Inc. Boston, MA.
Issacson Miller, Washington, D.C.
Jack Morton Worldwide, Boston, MA
Joule Unlimited Inc. Bedford, MA.
Kaiser Permante Hospital, Vallejo, CA
Kim Copeland Productions, Nashville, TN
Larson-Juhl Corp, Craig & June Ponizo
Lifoka Grafische, Den Haag, Holland
Loews Hotels, New York, NY
Looper, Reed, Mark & Mcgraw, Houston, TX
Marriott Copley Place, Boston, MA.
Mathematica Policy Research Washington, DC
Mayer, Brown, Rowe, & Maw, Washington, DC
Meany & Oliver, Mclean, VA
MFA Moody, Famigliette & Andronico,Tewksbury, MA.
Mirion Technologies Inc, San Ramon, CA
Mopar, Detroit, MI
Motorola Company, Dallas, TX
NASA’s Stennis Space Center, Starkville, MS
National Development, Boston, MA
Pacific Union Real Estate, San Francisco, CA
Palmer & Dodge, Boston, MA
Pilko & Associates, Houston, TX
Prince, Lobel, Glovsky & Tye, Boston, MA
Sage Hill Partners, Cambridge, MA
Sanford Bernstein, San Francisco, CA
Schnaeder, Harrison, Segal & Lewis Lawoffices, Atlanta, GA
SCM Microsystems, Los Gatos, CA
Scudder, Stevens & Clark, Boston, MA
Shire Pharmaceuticals, Boston, MA
Simplex Inc., Boston, MA
Skadden, Arps, Slate, & Flom, Boston, MA
Sky Across, Tokyo, Japan
Soundboard Consulting Group LLC Boonton Township, NJ
Stonebridge Associates, Boston, MA
Summitt Bank, Oakland, Walnut Creek & Emeryville, CA
Sunset Magazine Idea House, 1999
Symantec Corporation, New York & Cupertino, CA
Thomas Mizo Chadwick, Saylor & Co., Los Angeles, CA
Tisbury Capital, Boston, MA
Total System Services, Columbus, GA
Tufts Dental School, Boston, MA
Unicco, Auburndale, MA
USAA Law Offices, San Francisco, CA
Washington Real Estate Investment Trust, Rockville, MD
Wilmer Hale, New York, NY
Wusthof Knives, Solingen, Germany
Xl Corp. Hamilton, Bermuda CRITICAL REVIEWS
2012 Galleries West Magazine
2012 Valley Sentinel, Pleasanton, CA
2010 Artnews Magazine
2010 Urban Tulsa Weekly, Tulsa, OK
2008 Bottom Line, Palm Desert
2006 Contra Costa Times
2004 San Diego News
2000 Laguna News Post
1999 The Artist’s Magazine
1999 www.About.Com
1998 The Santa Fe New Mexican
1998 The Guild
1997 Art Expressions Magazine
1997 The St. Louis Post Dispatch TEACHING ART
1980 - 1993 Mt. Diablo Unified School District Adults, Developmentally Disabled, Lafayette CA DONATIONS
USC LAC Medical Center Donation, Los Angeles, CA
HIV/AIDS Foundation, Houston, TX
World Vision Inc. New York, NY
Open Hands Project, Santa Fe, NM
Joe Morgan Invitational, Oakland, CA
Canadian Cancer Society, Vancouver, BC
Brevard Alzheimer’s Foundation, Inc.
Summit Bank Foundation, Oakland, CA
Parkinson's Foundation, San Jose, CA
Make-a-Wish Foundation, San Francisco, CA
Sunnyhills Children’s Garden, San Anselmo CA
Mt. Diablo Ballet, Walnut Creek, CA
Habitat For Humanity, Mt. Diablo, CA
Lycée Français, La Perouse, San Francisco, CA